Like every other sport, tennis has seen players of every kind. There have been great players and then there is Fatma Al Nabhani, in a league of her own.

To say Fatma is another great player would be a huge understatement. She is the single biggest reason to have made tennis what it is today in Oman.

For Fatma, it took more than dedication and hard work to prove herself on an international arena. She was the first player from the Gulf to break into the global top 100 in the junior Grand Slams.

She picked up her first tennis racket at the age of four to play alongside her elder brothers and train with their mother Hadia. “Tennis runs in the family. My grandfather taught my mother how to play and she taught us,” she points out.

Fatma captured her first international title at the age of nine, winning the West Asian Championship – Under 13 that took place in Abu Dhabi in 2000. Despite being the youngest player in the tournament, she returned home with two gold and two silver medals.

“At the age of nine, I competed in the U-13 Asian Championship and most of the girls who took part were much older and experienced than me. I just played that tournament to challenge myself and surprisingly I won two gold medals and two silver medals. It started from there and I said to myself that I want to be in this profession,” she recalls.

At the age of 13, she used to travel abroad to various training camps with her mother, who is also her coach, to be part of a bigger sporting community. “I used to practise six hours a day every week and never found time for anything else,” she says.

Ever since she entered the arena Fatma has been in the limelight but she did not seek the spotlight — she simply wanted to play the game and be the best she could, holding such an intense focus.

“No one pushed me into this game. Yes, I come from a tennis family but I simply fell in love with it. The sheer determination to play for your country took me to this stage,” she notes.

For an Arab woman playing the game was not easy but Fatma wanted to break the glass ceiling. “When I grew up I wanted to see women from this region able to compete internationally and nothing can stop me from that fame.”

With cupboards full of trophies and medals, Fatma is a role model for Arab women who dream to march ahead and do wonders in sports. Fatma will continue to play the game as long as she can.

“I will continue to play for the love and passion for this game and the love of that feeling that you represent your country and raise your national flag high around the world where people get to know this player is from Oman and winning those international tournaments and standing with other players and listening to your national anthem and that success…I will do it not just once, I will do it a 100 times if I can,”